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<title>Nightmares are no match for IronDad by Mr_Lonely</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22496893">Nightmares are no match for IronDad</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Lonely/pseuds/Mr_Lonely'>Mr_Lonely</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Healing Takes Time and a Little Light [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Gen, Healing, Nightmares, Peter being a big brother, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:53:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,045</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22496893</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Lonely/pseuds/Mr_Lonely</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>We all have good days, and bad days. Bad things will always happen, but Tony is learning to pick up the pieces. </p>
<p>This is what he fought, and almost died, for, after all.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Healing Takes Time and a Little Light [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618501</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nightmares are no match for IronDad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Wow this was so much angstier than I planned. </p>
<p>Enjoy!!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wielding the Gauntlet took more out of Tony than he would ever admit out loud. </p>
<p>More than just his arm, his whole body felt… fragile. Like a house that a hurricane had blown through, he had no idea if or when his structure was going to fail. When he went to dinners or parties, he had to be this indestructible hero; a man of iron, wielder of the Infinity Gauntlet for around thirty terrifying seconds. </p>
<p>At home, he was just Tony: Dad, mentor, husband.</p>
<p>Morgan fell asleep halfway through Frozen, sprawled over Tony.</p>
<p>Had it been anyone else who’d fallen asleep, Morgan would have considered it an offense of the highest degree; the only remedy was starting the movie over again, this time as a sing- along. But she’d been playing with Peter all day, since the kid was over for the weekend, and he was one of the few people who could keep up with Morgan’s neverending energy. </p>
<p>Peter sat on Tony’s other side, watching the movie but snatching glimpses of Morgan out of the corner of his eye. Tony had given up on trying to find excuses for Peter to visit, even though the kid was still a little in awe of him, so Tony pretended it was Morgan who missed Peter when he was away. </p>
<p>“F.R.I, pause the movie,” Tony whispered as he shifted Morgan. She was getting bigger, and heavier. Tony hadn't been able to stand his prosthetic today, it was one of those days, so there was no way he was gonna be able to carry her to bed. He wasn't sure he was even going to be able to walk up the stairs.</p>
<p>Years of practice taught Tony to shove down the feeling of self-loathing. Healing took time, even a step backward every once in a while. Peter picked up on it though, because he shifted over. “I can take her up, Mr. Stark.”</p>
<p>This time, Tony hid a smile as Peter tried to gently pry Morgan off of him. “Careful, she's sticky. Like someone else I know.”</p>
<p>Peter let out a soft laugh. It made him look so much younger than he tried to pretend. Tony couldn't look away from the bags under the poor kid’s eyes. It had been, what, a month since Morgan saved Peter from his nightmares? He still didn't have the words to ask the kid about it. </p>
<p>Peter managed to get Morgan to wrap around himself instead, and gave Tony another smile before heading towards the stairs. </p>
<p>“Hey kid?”</p>
<p>Peter turned around. “Yeah?”</p>
<p>“Come back down once she’s tucked in, alright?”</p>
<p>Peter nodded and crept up the stairs. </p>
<p>Tony turned off the television, just sitting in the dark, thinking. Heart to heart was not Tony’s field of expertise, but he had to try. Healing was so much harder than astro-physics. </p>
<p>Peter was totally silent on his way back down the stairs, and Tony absolutely did not jump when the kid sat next to him on the couch. “What is it, Mr. Stark? Are you okay? Do you need some help? I can--”</p>
<p>Tony took a breath, and wrapped is good arm around Peter’s shoulders. “I actually wanted to ask you about you, kid.”</p>
<p>He felt Peter tense. “Oh, uh, okay.”</p>
<p>“If some kinda night-light would help while you're here, it wouldn't be a problem to install something.”</p>
<p>It never took much to get Peter to open up; it was almost like he wanted to tell someone, but didn't feel like he could or was worth it. Tony could relate.</p>
<p>He was quick to deflect. “Oh, Mr. Stark it's fine. I'm fine. It's really nothing--”</p>
<p>On the other hand, the kid would ramble nonstop about nothing. </p>
<p>Tony gently cut him off. “I get nightmares too. About Titan.” About a lot of other things too. </p>
<p>That made Peter stop. He continued in a quiet voice. “Morgan mentioned something like that.”</p>
<p>The last thing Tony wanted was his daughter worrying about him, but he’d talked it out with Pepper and they agreed on a policy of honesty. Talking instead of hiding. It was a work in progress for everyone.</p>
<p>“Wanna talk about it?”</p>
<p>Everything in Peter’s face screamed ‘no’, save for his eyes. His exhausted bambi eyes that were starting to fill with tears. “I-I don't wanna keep you up Mr. Stark, I mean only if you want to--”</p>
<p>Tony pulled Peter close and pressed a kiss to his temple. It shut the teenager up. </p>
<p>“It's okay to be scared, even if you're safe here.”</p>
<p>Peter sniffled, nodding. “Why doesn't my brain get that?”</p>
<p>“I still get nightmares about…” Tony took a deep breath, so used to the pull of the original arc, the device that had saved his life and tried to kill him in the process. “... things that are long over. Hey, look at me, Pete.”</p>
<p>Peter looked up at him, so damn young. </p>
<p>“You're not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere, well, except that dinner with some fancy people that Pep couldn't get me out of. And you have school, that's very important, even though you're smarter than your teachers. And hey, you're gonna go to bed and wake up tomorrow and we are not gonna tell Morgan she slept through her favorite movie and then we are all gonna have breakfast. Sound good?”</p>
<p>The more he talked, the more Peter relaxed into his side to the point where it seemed like the kid was going to fall asleep right there.</p>
<p>“But…” Peter cut himself off.</p>
<p>“What, kid? What about nightmares?”</p>
<p>Peter gave a tiny nod.</p>
<p>“Well, they might happen and they might not, but you can always talk to me or May or even Happy about them, okay?”</p>
<p>“Okay.”</p>
<p>Healing was not a straight line, but it did no one any good to pretend there wasn't a problem in the first place. Tony might have bad days, days when he wants to stay in bed and not exist, or days when the nightmares get so bad that he doesn't sleep until he finally passes out. And he might not have been the same after wielding the Gauntlet, but damn it, he was still Ironman. He was still Tony Stark. Dad, mentor, husband.</p>
<p>He would never leave the people he loved.</p>
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